《聖奧思定會規》是天主教四大古老隱修傳統會規之一,由奧思定(St. Augustine of Hippo)約撰寫於西公元395年,雖然篇幅只有最著名的《聖本篤會規》的四分之一,但在時間上先於後者,是西方教會最早的隱修院傳統會規。正如奧思定的靈修神學著作都是以愛德為基石,此《會規》也是以《聖經》中耶穌教導的愛的誡命為中心,建立了西方教會早期的團體隱修模式。此《會規》的出現對當時天主教西方隱修傳統及其後續的修會產生了重要的影響,例如《聖本篤會規》第二部分就採納了奧思定傳統隱修思想,以團體隱修模式為基礎,側重兄弟友愛的共融和彼此服務寬恕的德行;而後期的道明會更是將奧思定的規章置於道明會會憲之首,因其強調個人的神貧、兄弟的友愛、推崇宗徒時代基督徒所過的共同生活,是一套完全適合使徒生活的規則。《聖奧思定會規》的指示概括性相當大,靈活性強,因此不僅適用於隱修生活,也適於被使徒修會採用,可在其基礎上為達致修會特定目標而制定更詳細的會規會憲。本文以愛德為中心,對《聖奧思定會規》蘊含的靈修神學進行整理,以闡明愛德如何在不同層面引領和塑造團體生活,使愛的誡命在團體中不斷得到更完善的踐行。
One of the four most important ancient cenobitic monastic rules in the Catholic Church is the Rule of St. Augustine, which was composed by St. Augustine of Hippo in 395 A.D. It is the oldest monastic tradition in the Western Church, even though its length is just one-fourth as long as the most well-known Rule of St. Benedict. Just as St. Augustine's theological and spiritual teachings were founded on the virtue of charity, the Rule was also founded on the loving commandments that Jesus gave in the gospel and applied to the first model of communal monasticism in the Western Church which was created by St. Augustine. The Rule of St. Augustine had a significant impact on the Catholic Western monastic tradition of the time and its subsequent religious orders. For example, the second part of the Rule of St. Benedict adopted St. Augustine's tradition of monasticism, which was based on the community model of monasticism, emphasizing the fraternal love and forgiveness of one another; and the later Dominicans placed St. Augustine's Rule at the beginning of the Constitution of the Order of Preachers, since its emphasis on personal poverty and fraternal charity, in its reference to the common life lived by the Christians of the apostolic age, it was an apostolic Rule. Its prescriptions were general enough to allow great flexibility; it would not stand in the way of particular constitutions designed to achieve the special end of the Order. This article focuses on Augustine's spirituality of charity. Through examining St. Augustine's Rule, we can understand how charity influences and directs community life on many levels, enabling the commandment of love to be perfectly and consistently upheld in the community.